Brooklyn, Illinois, was founded in 1830 by a group of free blacks and escaped slaves. Cha-Jua, an associate professor of history at Southern Illinois University, traces the development of the town over 85 years, with particular emphasis on the struggle of the citizens to achieve economic self-sufficiency.

Cha-Jua is a black nationalist with Marxist leanings. As a result, much of his analysis seems unfairly skewed against the "white capitalist power structure." He seems locked into a dualistic, zero-sum mindset in which anything that benefits capitalists in nearby white communities must hurt blacks in Brooklyn.